Lebanon
Latest stories
Hizbullah: CIA Using U.S. Embassy as Base to Recruit Spies

The Central Intelligence Agency has been operating form the U.S. embassy compound in Awkar to recruit agents to spy on Hizbullah, the party’s al-Manar TV station reported on Friday.

It said the CIA’s current chief in Lebanon is Daniel Patrick Mcfeely, 45, who replaced Louis Kahi after quitting in 2009.

W140 Full Story
Paris: We Haven't Yet Linked between UNIFIL Attack, Syria Crisis

The French foreign ministry said Friday Paris did not have enough information that allows it to link between the attack on its troops in southern Lebanon and the active role France is playing concerning the situations in Syria.

“We have not yet linked” between the attack and the Syrian crisis, foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero told reporters.

W140 Full Story
Hizbullah Condemns UNIFIL Attack as Opposition Blames It and Syria

Hizbullah on Friday condemned the bomb attack earlier in the day on a French UNIFIL patrol in southern Lebanon, as the opposition March 14 camp claimed the incident was a message from Syria and that Hizbullah was "the messenger."

Opposition MP Marwan Hamadeh immediately blamed Damascus for the attack, saying it was orchestrated with the help of its Lebanese ally Hizbullah.

W140 Full Story
Jumblat Urges Syria Druze to Shun Repression: We Don't Need Iran Lectures

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat on Friday called on the Druze of Syria not to engage in the repression of anti-regime protests, stressing that engaging the Druze in the “acts of killing” is a “historic mistake.”

In an interview with the London-based, pan-Arab weekly The Majalla, Jumblat said: “In addition to the (predominantly Druze) region of Jabal al-Arab, there is another bleeding region in Syria, the region of Daraa, and the Druze should not engage in a Syrian axis that is against the (Sunni) majority.”

W140 Full Story
Berri Says Attack on UNIFIL Aims at Destabilizing Southern Lebanon

Speaker Nabih Berri condemned on Friday the attack on UNIFIL and the national security, saying it aims at destabilizing the South.

“The terrorist attack that targeted the UNIFIL forces aims at destabilizing Lebanon and the South,” a statement issued by Berri’s office said.

W140 Full Story
Juppe Condemns 'Vile' Attack on French Peacekeepers

Foreign Minister Alain Juppe condemned Friday's bomb attack on a U.N. peacekeeping patrol in Lebanon in which five French troops were wounded, saying France would not be intimidated by such "vile acts.”

"I condemn in the strongest terms the cowardly attack that was carried out against UNIFIL this morning," Juppe added in a statement.

W140 Full Story
Hamadeh: Syria Orchestrated UNIFIL Attack with Hizbullah Help

March 14 opposition MP Marwan Hamadeh blamed Damascus for Friday's attack on a UNIFIL patrol in the southern city of Tyre, saying it was orchestrated with the help of its ally Hizbullah.

"It is clear that Syria was behind what happened today and the messenger was Hizbullah," Hamadeh told Agence France Presse. "Nothing happens in that region without Hizbullah's approval."

W140 Full Story
Miqati Condemns Attack on UNIFIL, Says it Won’t Affect its Role

Prime Minister Najib Miqati condemned on Friday an attack on a UNIFIL patrol in the southern coastal city of Tyre, saying such bombings would not affect the mission of the peacekeepers.

“These crimes don’t only target the international (peacekeeping) forces but also the security and stability of all Lebanon and the south,” Miqati said as he headed a meeting of top security officials at the Grand Serail.

W140 Full Story
Pietton Says Paris Has No Desire to Lead UNIFIL, France Committed to 1701

French ambassador Denis Pietton stressed that his country didn’t reject leading the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, which undergoes a rotation principle between the three European countries that have the wider participation in it.

“We are satisfied with the amount of our participation in the UNIFIL, but we didn’t reveal any desire to command” the peacekeeping forces, Pietton said in an interview with As Safir newspaper published on Friday.

W140 Full Story
Blast Targets French UNIFIL Patrol in Tyre, 7 Injured

Five French soldiers and two civilians were wounded on Friday by a powerful roadside bomb that targeted a UNIFIL patrol in the southern coastal city of Tyre, a spokesperson and media reports said.

UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti said the 5 peacekeepers were injured when an explosion targeted their patrol in an area south of Tyre around 9:30 am. He did not specify to which contingent they belonged to.

W140 Full Story